Conventionally, there is known, as a separating mechanism provided in a sheet conveying device, one having a separating roller and a separating piece. The separating roller rotates while contacting a sheet. The separating piece contacts the sheet at a side opposite to a side where the separating roller contacts the sheet to apply conveyance resistance to the sheet.
In general, such a conventional sheet conveying device has a plurality of conveying rollers including the above-described separating roller. The plurality of conveying rollers is driven to rotate to convey the sheet along a predetermined conveying path. The sheet nipped between the separating roller and the separating piece (i.e., nip position) is fed downstream in a conveyance direction of the sheet as the separating roller rotates. Then, a leading end portion of the sheet in the conveyance direction is nipped between a pair of conveying rollers that is positioned downstream of the separating roller in the conveyance direction. Thereafter, when the sheet is further fed downstream in the conveyance direction as the separating roller and the pair of conveying rollers rotate, a trailing end portion of the sheet in the conveyance direction separates from the nip position between the separating roller and the separating piece.